Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG Scheme (DBTL)/PAHAL was launched in 54 districts of the country on 15.11.2014 and was subsequently extended to rest of the country on 01st January, 2015. Currently, the Scheme is under implementation in 715 districts. Under the Scheme, the LPG cylinders are being sold at non-subsidised price and subsidy, as admissible, is transferred to consumers directly into his/her bank account subject to applicable cap on subsidized refills. With the implementation of PAHAL, with the help of de-duplication process first at Oil marketing Companies (OMCs) level and subsequently at NIC level, existence of multiple connections in the name of same consumer is not likely to arise. This, in turn, helps in enforcing the quota of domestic subsidised cylinders to consumers in an effective manner.

Under PAHAL scheme, the authorized subsidy to LPG consumers is transferred directly into the bank account of the consumers. The subsidy is transferred either through Aadhaar Transfer Compliant (ATC) or Bank Transfer Compliant (BTC) mode on the basis of seeding of Aadhaar number in bank account. As on 26.12.2018, out of 23.22 crore LPG consumers, who have joined the Scheme, 19.57 crore are getting subsidy through ATC mode.

Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have introduced Tamper Evident Seals on pan India basis from 01.04.2016 to prevent pilferage/supply of underweight cylinders. Further, the Government has already instructed OMCs to direct their LPG distributors to check the weight of LPG cylinders at their godowns. OMCs have issued instructions to the distributors to provide portable weighing scales to all their delivery boys so that weight of the cylinder can be checked before delivery to the customers. In case any underweight cylinder is detected during delivery, the same is replaced by the distributor. Details of established cases of supply of under-weight cylinders/pilfering from cylinders in the country including the State of Maharashtra during the last three years and the current year(April-Sept. 2018) are as under

Year

Established cases of under-weight cylinders/ pilfering from cylinders

2015-16

27

2016-17

15

2017-18

39

2018-19 (Upto September, 2018)

13

This information was given by Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in a written reply to the Lok Sabha today.